Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur held a meeting with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to address the confrontation they had at the Mexican Grand Prix and ask them to put the interests of the Italian team before their personal disputes.
The meeting was held on Thursday in São Paulo, before the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend at the Interlagos circuit.
«It was good to talk and clarify my position and theirs. It was important to do it. Now we turn the page and we are focused on the next race,” Vasseur explained to the media.
The tension between the two drivers increased during the first lap of the Mexican race, when both went off the track in a dispute for the first positions. The situation was taken advantage of by the Dutchman Max Verstappen, from Red Bull, to take the lead.
Hamilton, who had started from pole position, finished second, while Leclerc crossed the line in fourth position after receiving a penalty for gaining an advantage by leaving the track limits.
Vasseur acknowledged that there is frustration among his drivers, who usually compete for close positions and maintain an intense rivalry on the circuits.
«They are two competitors with a fighting spirit, but they need to respect each other. And, mainly, they must respect the brand, the team, the people who work in the factory and those who work on the circuits,” warned the French leader.
Furthermore, he regretted that the dispute prevented Ferrari from achieving a result that seemed favorable: “When you are first and second, you expect to finish first and second, and that did not happen.”
The controversy was also commented on by Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes, who compared the episode to the rivalry between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg a decade ago.
Wolff recalled the accident between the two during the first lap of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, when both Mercedes retired and allowed Verstappen to take his first victory in the category.
«I can understand what Fred is going through. “Sometimes it takes really difficult moments like this last one to make a position clear,” he said.
Ferrari currently occupies second position in the constructors’ championship, 126 points behind Mercedes, with four races left to finish the season.
